White House reassures congressional aides: Er, we’re not at war with Libya

posted at 7:15 pm on March 22, 2011 by Allahpundit

Aides in attendance said the administration didn’t shed much new light on the situation.

“You learn more by having read the paper,” one said…

When asked, White House officials told congressional aides that the United States is not at war with Libya, sources told POLITICO.

In addition, administration officials emphasized that the president plans to hand over control to the coalition and that the actions taken by the president are in compliance with the War Powers Act.

This is aimed, I assume, at blunting Lugar’s demand for a declaration of war, but you don’t even need to go that far to find Obama’s actions wanting. A choice bit from the War Powers Resolution with which he claims to be in compliance:

The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.

The President in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situation where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and after every such introduction shall consult regularly with the Congress until United States Armed Forces are no longer engaged in hostilities or have been removed from such situations.

The resolution goes on to say that he can send forces into battle for 60 days before requiring congressional authorization (which explains why he keeps hitting his talking point that this will all be over in days, not weeks), but if you take the prefatory language quoted above seriously, the only circumstance in which he’s allowed to act without Congress is when there’s some sort of national emergency that requires an instant response. He had plenty of time during his weeks of dithering about Libya to “consult with Congress” before ordering action here, but as Ace said earlier, the only debate The One seems to think he needs is a confab at the United Nations. Once they say okay, he’s got all the moral/legal authority he needs. Revealing.

He’s cutting short his Latin America trip to come home early, perhaps realizing that even though we’re “not at war,” the photos of him kicking around a soccer ball while Air Force pilots are flying bombing raids over Tripoli won’t play well next year. Meanwhile, here’s Hillary making a bit of news during an interview with ABC by hinting that Qaddafi’s inner circle might be headed for the lifeboats. Aside from partition, deposing this nut is the only way out for the coalition if the military stalemate on the ground holds. Just one question: Is she telling the truth, or is this a psy op on her part aimed at making Qaddafi and his advisors paranoid towards each other?

“We’ve heard about other people close to him reaching out to people that they know around the world — Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America, beyond — saying what do we do? How do we get out of this? What happens next?” Clinton said in an exclusive interview. “I’m not aware that he personally has reached out, but I do know that people allegedly on his behalf have been reaching out.”

“Some of it is theater. Some of it is, you know, kind of, shall we say game playing, to try to do one message to one group, another message to somebody else,” she added. “A lot of it is just the way he behaves. It’s somewhat unpredictable. But some of it, we think, is exploring. You know, what are my options, where could I go, what could I do. And we would encourage that.”

She’s also “very relaxed” about the coming handover, you’ll be pleased to know, even though no one’s sure what we’re handing off to yet. Remember: This is the administration that branded itself as “smart power” when it took office.

Col Gaddafi’s words in front of his damaged Bab Al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli:

“I do not fear storms that sweep the horizon, nor do I fear the planes that throw black destruction. I am resistant, my house is here in my tent […] I am the rightful owner, and the creator of tomorrow. I, I am here!”.

Please, no attacks, since only GOD knows what the full repercussions would actually be, but… (certainly the WH hasn’t any clue)…
am I the only one who ‘hopes he fails’ ??
Methinks a lot of you at least know what I mean.
God help our troops.

She’s also “very relaxed” about the coming handover, you’ll be pleased to know, even though no one’s sure what we’re handing off to yet. Remember: This is the administration that branded itself as “smart power” when it took office.

One glance at the still in the video, below this statement, and one knows she’s not relaxed. Lately she looks like a wash cloth that hasn’t been laundered for a month. For crying out loud, doesn’t someone in her circle have the good sense that she ought to represent the U.S. when she leaves her bed?

One glance at the still in the video, below this statement, and one knows she’s not relaxed. Lately she looks like a wash cloth that hasn’t been laundered for a month. For crying out loud, doesn’t someone in her circle have the good sense that she ought to represent the U.S. when she leaves her bed?

Schadenfreude on March 22, 2011 at 7:38 PM

Hey, you try drinking all that vodka and we’ll see how good you look after a month.

I am so glad Hillary is SoS and not Kerry right now (and every other day and night).

Look someone who knows they are supposed to USE the media to send out ‘psyops and assorted type messages’ to the enemy (as opposed to announcing our military limitations off the bat as Obama does).

I think Arab League said no NATO only lead, and Turkey was pixxed already blocking NATO lead, Erdogan is going to be a big problem soon it seems like, and they seem to be building an IASF type leadership council like we use in AfPak coalition.

I am sure Hillary will make sure she has veto power over ANY US Troop moves/US Military use.

I heard that France suggested the panel be run by ‘Foreign ministers’ so it sounds like Hillary will get to finally lead. We all know Obama wont and cant.

We’re not at war with Libya, huh? Gee, thanks, that totally reassures me that these screw-ups in the Obama administration actually know what they’re doing in Libya. I bet the Americans risking their lives over there are reassured by this, too. /sarc

The President in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situation where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances

before? that means like ‘three days after’ no?

I stand corrected, I thought he was in compliance…I was wrong. ah well.

The grotesque competition between Britain, France and America to see who can fire the most missiles at Libya confirms the emergence of a new form of Western militarism. This is not the return of the politics of Empire or a re-flourishing of Western colonialism in north Africa, as some have claimed.Rather it is the barbarism of buffoons. This is an act of violence driven not by clear geopolitical interests, but by the utter failure of modern Western governments to work out what their geopolitical interests are and to act accordingly. In the rubble of various compounds and airfields in Libya, we can spy the incoherence of the Western political elites, and their elevation of the reckless, narcissistic politics of short-term gain over anything resembling a strategy or aim.

White House reassures congressional aides: Er, we’re not at war with Libya

(Obama press conference):

We’re just shooting at Lybians and bombing their homes and hardware every chance we get…for no apparent reason because the UN ordered us to do it, and I voted “Present” “Temporarily Unavailable due to important Road Trip”.

But it’s not a war…just a military hissy fit. And it’s all Bush’s fault!

Now no more questions on that: Aren’t you going to ask me about my pickup soccer game?
/SARC>

“Call this what they will, we are waging war — while still engaged in two other fronts — which will likely require substantial resources over a long period of time,” Representative John Larson, chairman of the Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives, said in a commentary on CNN.com.

He’s cutting short his Latin America trip to come home early, perhaps realizing that even though we’re “not at war,” the photos of him kicking around a soccer ball while Air Force pilots are flying bombing raids over Tripoli won’t play well next year.

This is not a War — well it is –but it ain’t — our Military sure is getting lots of O.J.T. and it’s been going on since 1776 … more or less … what is the Marine Hymm — from the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli…

The United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) used parts of Libya as a live fire training range (by agreement, of course) until Ghaddafi overthrew King Idris and abrogated the deal… which still had two years to go.

So, now that we’ve decided Ghaddafi is an illegitimate ruler, maybe we’re unilaterally bringing back the arrangement with the old government and using the two years of range time that’s still on the meter?

Not war, training.

Well, it’s a thought. If the Obama administration wants to use it, I won’t even insist on credit.

He’s cutting short his Latin America trip to come home early, perhaps realizing that even though we’re “not at war,” the photos of him kicking around a soccer ball while Air Force pilots are flying bombing raids over Tripoli won’t play well next year.

Both Kay daffy and bummah are nutcases,both need to go. Call congress critters first thing in AM and tell em so.
Some GI needs to tell bummah here a^%^%$le take my gun and get to the front.
Patton would have told this moron “you ain’t killin my men for no good reason” then would have let fly some really choice words.
The Generals need to drive over to the WH and tell bumma sign the letter of resignation.
Congress needs a lot of heat applied,now.
Have a nice day.

“Colonel Qaddafi needs to step down from power,” the president said in a joint press conference at the White House with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. “You’ve seen with great clarity that he has lost legitimacy with his people.”

And Barry should know about legitimacy!!!!!

Obama, born of a British citizen father and therefore not a “natural born citizen”, calls Qaddafi “illegitimate”.

Barry plans to delegate blame to an ad hoc committee, so when the manure hits the fan, with U.S. troops dying, his hands will be unsoiled.

I plan to make a few phone calls Wednesday AM and tell my elected representatives that Barry has got to go. He is demonstrating every bit of executive acumen found on his resume in 2008 — exactly ZERO!

“Grow up, dropping some bombs to pursue a no-fly/sail zone is not an act of war.” –Tojo, 1941 /s

According to Obama’s logic, Japan never was really at war with America since it never attacked us with an invasion force. It merely defended its occupied territories, and early one December, attempted to enforce a western Pacific no-fly/sail policy.

He is being consistent, since he doesn’t think Al Qaeda is at war with us either.

I haven’t heard anything from Colin Powell on the Powell Doctrine and Lybia. Either the liberal media doesn’t want his opinion in this case, or he’s gone into hiding. Either way that fact should be news.

Oh, yes, Mr. President, thank you…if you would sir, I know the last time you explained this you said you were making it clear….my apologies Mr. President, just one more time so I can report clearly…… what is our objective again??